An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
This is going to be interesting and probably will be used as a recovery and testbed by the PAP after the Palmer debacle where they lost the SMC to WP despite having a well credentialed candidate academic and career wise and said to be cabinet material by non other than the PM prior to the polls. In many ways it turned out to be a simple battle between humble, young and hard working party worker vs and arrogant conceited arsehole of a doctor (pun intended). Frankly I don't think the voters punished the PAP for Palmer's affair but more like they could not stomach anal of a surgeon.
I have since found out that David Ong was specifically brought into Bukit Batok in 2011 at the request of the Ong Clan whose ancestral temple is located by BB street 23. I also found out that the clan is influential and both the Ex-President Ong Teng Cheong and Ong Ke Yung are closely associated with it There is a lot of history and there is also association to Bukit Brown from what I am told. Any Ongs can throw more light on this. Reminds me of the Mandan Teochew Catholics whose reach is quite immense.
Also interesting is that previous PAP Branch secretary of BB is Muralidharan Pillai who was transferred to Paya Lebar which is under Aljunied GRC help make the recovery of the GRC in 2015. I understood that his ground work is excellent ( not a good orator though). If he was Chinese, he would have been their ready candidate for BB having served his time in Aljunied and did his stint as a candidate and a ready base in Bukit Batok. Not sure if the Clan has any say after the Ong affair. Interestingly Ong's and Murali Fathers are from same Barisan detainee cohort.
Will offer opposition views in following posts.
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